Three-piece automatic lock slider



Feb. 1, E96 b. H. ROWLANDS 3, 5

THREE-PIECE AUTOMATIC LOCK SLIDER Filed Feb. 19, 1968 INVENTOR wlands United States Patent 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A three-piece automatic lock slider for zipper fasteners employs a cap-like locking member which has a pivotal connection vw'th a hollow boss on the slider front wing and a springy tail which snaps into engagement with the boss while a projection on the slider body enters a hole in the front end of the locking member to limit the pivotal movement of the locking member.

This invention relates to a three-piece automatic lock slider for zipper fasteners and is an improvement on the slider shown in Australian Patent No. 147,732, published Oct. 4, 1951.

As in the slider of that patent, the locking member in this case is assembled with a snap engagement by endwise movement except that whereas in the patent, the pull tab had side trunnions which must first be engaged in holes of the locking member, the present slider has a pull tab with a solid pintle which is merely held in place under the locking member during assembly so that no subsequent forming is required to complete the assembly.

This invention results in a slider having a substantially improved appearance as compared to the slider of the Australian patent in that it has a cap-like locking member which merges smoothly into the boss which holds it to the slider body.

Other three-piece spring lock sliders have been patented and used which require difiicult bending operations of portions of the slider body, of the spring, or of the pull tab to hold them in place. The slider of this invention may have its three pieces made in final form separately, and then assembled by a simple pushing action. In this manner, a pull tab may be used with a solid through-andthrough pintle as distinguished from an assembly where the pull tab has fabricated portions which must be bent together during assembly.

Various other advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear. In the description and claims such terms as front, back, upper and lower are used as they apply to the usual position of a zipper in garments, but only for convenience and not by way of limitation.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown for purposes of illustration, one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation-a1 view with a portion broken away at the upper ends;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation;

FIG. 3 is a central longitudinal section showing the locked position in full lines, and the unlocked position in dotted lines;

FIG. 4 shows a position of the parts during assembly, partially in elevation and partially in section;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are top and bottom plan views respectively of the front portion of the slider;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the slider body; and

'FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the locking member in inverted position.

The three pieces which make up the slider are: the

slider body, generally designated 10, the locking member, generally designated 11, and the pull tab 12.

The slider body comprises front wing 13 and back wing 14 joined together at the upper side and by a neck 15. The wings have the usual side flanges 16 to. define with the neck a Y-shaped channel for passage of zipper fastener elements in a well-known manner. The narrow end of the slider body may be described as having an open mouth 17.

A hollow boss is formed on the front wing in the region of the neck 10 where the slider has greatest strength against compressive forces. This boss has a solid, generally flat, top wall 18 and side walls 19 and 20 defining a recess or tunnel 21 which opens toward the narrow end of the slider and preferably extends entirely through the boss. Grooves 22 and 23 on the inner surfaces of the side walls are approached by inclined lead-in surfaces 24 and the upper ends of these grooves communicate with pockets 25 and 26. The side walls also have external recesses 27 and 28 and these walls may terminate at the lower end in inclined portions 29. At the lower end, the front wing has a notch 30 and a downwardly projecting protuberance 31 extending over the notch.

The locking member 11 is in the form of a cap having a flat rectangular front wall 32, side walls '33 and 34, each provided with a side opening or notch 35, a lower wall 36, and a comparatively narrower springy tail 37 at the upper end. The tail 37 has laterally extending lugs 38 and 39 which, during assembly as seen in FIG. 4, ride in the grooves 22 and 23 and finally snap into position in the pockets 25 and 26 as seen in FIG. 3. The lead-in surfaces 24 Will assist in guiding the tail into the tunnel 21 and when the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 4, assuming that the pull tab 11 has been placed in position, the only thing required is to apply first an inward force to bring a pair of pivot ears 40 and 41 into line with the recesses 27 and 28, and then an end-wise force to push the locking member upwardly until the side lugs 38 and 39 snap into the pockets 25 and 26 whereupon pivot cars 40 and 41 will be seated in the external recesses 27 and 28.

The lower wall 36 of the locking member has an opening 42 into which the protuberance 31 passes during the assembly operation which has just been described. This opening is large enough to allow for the necessary pivotal movement as indicated in FIG. 3, from the solid line position to the dotted line position and the protuberance 31 engages the bottom edge 43 of the opening 42 to act as a stop and take any further stress imposed upon the locking member by means of the pull tab. The wall 36 of the locking member has at least one and preferably two locking prongs 44 and 45 which extend into the slider channel when the pull tab is released to engage zipper fastener elements and lock the slider in the usual manner. The spring tail is designed so that in the assembled full line position in FIG. 3, it will be under some tension so as always to urge the locking prongs 44 and 45 inwardly, and of course, this spring will be stressed even more as the locking member is pivoted around the pivot ears 40 and 41.

The pull tab 12 has an opening so as to provide leg portions 46 and 47 which straddle the locking member, these leg portions being joined by a through-and-through pintle 48 which extends under the locking member through the notches 35.

I claim:

1. A three-piece automatic lock slider for zipper fasteners comprising;

(a) a slider body defining a Y-shaped channel having front and back wings joined at the upper wide end of the slider by a neck and having an open mouth at the narrow lower end, a hollow boss on the front wing in the region of said neck, said boss having a solid top wall and side walls defining a tunnel which opens downwardly toward the narrow end of the slider body;

(b) a cap-like locking member extending along the front wing from said boss to the narrow end of the slider body, said member having a springy tail extending into said tunnel, the upper end of said tail having at least one lug adapted to snap into engagement with a pocket in a tunnel wall when said locking member is pushed upwardly into assembled position;

(c) means providing a pivot for said locking member at the lower end of said boss when said tail portion snaps into said position;

((1) a locking prong near the lower end of said locking member adapted to enter the slider channel or to be lifted from such position to clear the channel against the spring tension of said tail; and

(e) cooperating means on the slider body and lower end of the locking member which are brought into engagement when the locking member is pushed into assembled position for limiting forward pivotal movement of said locking member; and

(f) a pull tab connected to said locking member.

2. A lock slider as defined in claim 1 wherein opposite side walls of said boss have internal guide channels and wherein said springy tail has later-ally extending lugs which ride along the channels during end-wise assembly of the locking member on the body, and wherein each such lug drops into a pocket at the upper end of said channels.

3. A lock slider as defined in claim 1 wherein said pivot means consists of a. pair of upwardly extending ears on said cap member engaging in external recesses in said boss.

4. A lock slider as defined in claim 1 wherein said movement limiting means consists of a downwardly extending protuberance on the lower end of the front wing extending into a hole in lower end wall of the locking member when the parts are assembled.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,373,523 4/1945 Winterhalter 24205.14 3,038,226 6/1962 Kedzlerski 24-205.14

FOREIGN PATENTS 769,355 10/1967 Canada.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

